Dariusz Poliński, a professor at Nicholas Copernicus University, led the 17th-century cemetery excavations that uncovered the remains of the unnamed woman.
Vampires were all the rage back then, and even being a little different was enough to turn an entire village against you. Although a silk cap found with the remains indicated that this young woman had high status, even money could not bring her into the graces of society as she had a protruding front tooth which probably played a role in his disappearance.
| The remains of a “vampire” discovered with a sickle around the throat
More below: pic.twitter.com/HQ1ceZ6erA
— UNILAD (@UNILAD) September 3, 2022
Long before Buffy started killing vampires, ordinary villagers stuck to vampire slaying kits this included wooden stakes, crosses, holy water, silver bullet guns, and even a sulfuric acid elixir! (Believe it or not!, Ripley’s has one of the largest collections of vampire slaying kits in the world. See one for yourself at one of our Oddities!)
Once someone was screwed, those who buried the suspected leeches took no chance of them coming back for the second round. While vampire protection practices usually involved pinning the head to the ground or removing it altogether, Poliński noted that the burial of the woman was quite rare.
It seems her status at least mitigated her death sentence, as she was buried with her head intact. Instead, her body was pinned to the ground with a sharp sickle blade that would slice her head off if she attempted any funny business from the afterlife. And in case that wasn’t enough to hold her back, there was also a padlock around her big toe.
When the discovery hit the internet, people on social media were quick to suggest that the lady vampire be left as is, lest moving the sickle cause another world-shaking cataclysmic event.
I need the archaeologists to stop for a minute.
Take a sabatical year. Learn a language. Start a podcast.
We don’t need to investigate the Polish vampire.
Someone put a sickle to his throat. It seems serious to me.
Sprinkle some soil on it and slowly move away.
— emily freeman
(@editingemily) September 6, 2022
However, it seems that Poliński and his team aren’t afraid of any vampires! They dared to remove the sickle to move the woman’s body to their laboratories, where they will continue their research. Hoping they have a kit on hand in case she decides to come back to life!
By Meghan Yani, Contributor for Ripleys.com
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Source: 17th century ‘vampire’ found buried with sickle on neck
